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Tim Thomas will back up Tuukka Rask for the fourth straight game tonight. According to a source, it is a minor upper-body injury.

"It's one of those injuries that we have to allow him to get better," Claude Julien said. "Yet it could be something that could be cured on a day-to-day basis."

* Marc Savard will be ready to go tonight after missing 15 games with a broken left foot. "It feels like you're a kid again," Savard said. "I just can't wait to get out there and get the game started. I've just got to remember to try not to do too much."

* Despite skating with Savard and Marco Sturm tonight, Byron Bitz is seated next to Steve Begin and Shawn Thornton in the dressing room. Bitz's teammates continue to give the right wing good-natured grief for playing on a skilled line tonight.